Do Not Despair!

I happened to run across a great quotation from President Benson today and I thought I would share it.

“There are times when you simply have to righteously hang on and outlast the devil until his depressive spirit leaves you. As the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith: ‘Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;‘And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.’ (D&C 121:7–8.)

Pressing on in noble endeavors, even while surrounded by a cloud of depression, will eventually bring you out on top into the sunshine. Even our master Jesus the Christ, while facing that supreme test of being temporarily left alone by our Father during the crucifixion, continued performing his labors for the children of men, and then shortly thereafter he was glorified and received a fulness of joy. While you are going through your trial, you can recall your past victories and count the blessings that you do have with a sure hope of greater ones to follow if you are faithful. And you can have that certain knowledge that in due time God will wipe away all tears and that ‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.’” (1 Cor. 2:9.)  ("Do Not Despair,"Ensign, Oct. 1986, 5)

This really spoke to me because recently I have fought some depression and anxiety. I have lots of good days, but occasionally I’ll have some bad days that just feel like a mental-emotional whirlwind or hurricane tearing at my foundations. I fight back with my testimony, but it is so exhausting. Yesterday I had to get a priesthood blessing, and it really helped. It was yet another testimony to me that Christ overcame all things, and through his grace I can too.

I loved the above quote so much I decided I should go look at the article it came from. It was really good too. If you have hit a rough patch, I encourage you to go there for a pick-me-up and some good advice.

Saul visits the medium in 1 Sam 28

-->

The story of Saul visiting the woman with the familiar spirit in 1 Sam 28 is a tragic one, but I recently had some insight into it that revealed to me a deeper message of hope that we can get from it.  I hope you will stick with me as we go through this story.

3 ¶Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

4 And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.

5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. (1 Sam. 28:3-5)

The text wants us to have clear in our minds that the prophet Samuel has been dead and that Saul had already put away mediums and wizards out of the land.   I think we are also to remember that the Lord had commanded the people not to ever use those methods.

So the Philistines gather together against Israel and Saul gathers Israel’s armies and he is absolutely terrified.  He has no idea what to do.   Somehow he has no problem chasing after innocent people and slaughtering innocent priests and conducting manhunts, but real enemies make him shake in his boots.  (This shows us that the result of following wickedness and injustice is that a person loses the ability to face the real threats and carry out real responsibilities bravely.)

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. (v6)

This is not a new condition; Saul got the divine silence back in 1 Sam. 14:37 and it doesn’t seem like he inquires since. 

So what does Saul do?  He decides he will try to force revelation by getting someone who has familiar spirits to call up Samuel the prophet.  Everyone should know that trying to force revelation is always a bad thing because it opens an individual up to evil influences who are only too glad to have an excuse to communicate and cause misery.

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor. (v7)

Saul has already put away mediums and wizards as part of enforcing the Law of Moses, but now he hopes to consult them.  Very ironic.  (I hope we never get ourselves into a similar situation of wishing that we hadn’t kept the commandments in the past because it hinders us from sinning in the present.)  This is setting yet another very bad precedent and example for his servants.  It sends the message that there is one kind of official public morality and an opposite private morality when one is in a pinch.

Interesting that when he asks his servants to get him in touch with a medium, they already know exactly who to call and where to go.  How do they know?  Have they hidden this woman from him all these years?  Have they consulted her themselves?  Have they simply winked at her existence?  They register no protest against his request, which makes me wonder if they had lost their way spiritually as well.

8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.

9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

10 And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. (1 Sam. 28:8-10)

The woman also knows the rules against mediums and wizards and she fears entrapment.  It is another irony that this medium cites law to the person who enforced the law and who now wants to break the law.  She sounds really pious doing that, but as soon as she is promised that she won’t be punished for it, she does her thing.  I suppose this is how she has kept herself safe all this time, by citing the law, accusing of entrapment, and then extracting a promise of no punishment.

It is further ironic that Saul promises her safety with the oath “as the Lord liveth.”  I believe that is a classic instance of taking the Lord’s name in vain.

11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. (1 Samuel 28:11-14)

She’s asked to bring up Samuel the prophet, and presumably a spirit comes and it startles her.  Immediately when it comes, she blows Saul’s cover and reveals who he is.  I think this is meant to show that there is some spirit there that knows who Saul is and has told her.  This builds credibility with Saul, even as it scares the medium, who realizes she is now working for the very person who enforced those laws against spiritualism. 

It seems clear to me that this woman could commune with spirits, but they were evil spirits who hoped to deceive and destroy.  The institute manual has a very good point that it is contrary to the order of heaven for unrighteous people to have power to command righteous spirits to do their bidding, otherwise there would not be rest for the righteous after death, and they would be in a worse position than in life, in a sort of slavery to the wicked.

One of the things that confuses people about what this fake Samuel spirit says is that it sounds so close to the truth that it seems like it is truth.  But it’s not, in a number of very subtle ways.  The truth is twisted in so subtle a way that Saul in his tormented, fearful, guilt-ridden state would not have been able to discern it, and so for him it hits with all the force of truth.

The things the fake Samuel says are said in such a way as to discourage Saul from making any positive changes and to destroy hope, even with some very subtle flattery.

Let’s take these things apart, shall we?

15 ¶And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

17 And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:

18 Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.

19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. (1 Samuel 28:15-19)

“Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee” (v16) – It isn’t the Lord who departed from Saul.  Saul departed from the Lord.  By saying the Lord departed from Saul, the evil spirit discourages Saul from repenting by making it seem like nothing he can do can change the Lord’s stance.

“And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David” (v17) – The subtlety of this lie is missed because we often think of what comes after, since David eventually does gain the kingdom.  But at that time of Saul’s inquiry, the evil spirit interpreted the current status quo as a full fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecy.  We think it is just another reiteration of the prophecy, but the evil spirit said it was already fulfilled.  But at that time, David didn’t have the kingdom.  It took seven more years after Saul’s death for David to finally be given the whole kingdom.  So the evil spirit lied.

This statement flattered Saul into thinking that David would gain no more than he had already got, but it also discouraged Saul by making it seem like the state of Israel was degenerating instead of improving.  David was still a wanderer in a foreign land, holding a single town Ziklag by Philistine sufferance.  And was that to be the state of Israel’s kingdom under David?  How tragic if it were so!

“Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.” (v18) – At the time that Saul committed those sins nothing tormented him with the sense of what a mistake he had made, lest he should feel remorse and repent immediately.  Only now many years later his regret is inflamed about these sins in the distant past in a manner that will torment him rather than lead to repentance.   Also, there is no mention of the horrendous sins Saul committed afterwards—like killing the priests or seeking David’s life or consulting the medium or any other abuses of power he may have done that were not recorded—lest he begin to repent of those.  Evil spirits do not want us to be free from sin, and they will do what they can to distract us from repentance.

“Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: …the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” (v19) – The fake Samuel says Israel will be delivered into the hands of the Philistines, but this contradicts the earlier statement that the kingdom has been given to David.  There is an attempt to cover this contradiction up and hide it with a statement that the Lord will also deliver the host (the army) of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.  Just the army that time. 

Does this really happen?  Many people think that it did.  However, a close reading of what happens in the battle following this chapter is that the Philistines fought Israel and Israel fled.  Many were slain, but Israel fled (see 1 Sam. 31:1), so the army was not captured as predicted.  They forsook the cities and the Philistines came and dwelt in them (see 1 Sam. 31:7), but that doesn’t mean Israel was fully beaten.  Also, David goes to Hebron in 1 Sam 2:1-3 and is king over Judah, so the area of Judah wasn’t in subjection to the Philistines.  Also, Abner makes Saul’s son Ish-bosheth king over Israel and they retain Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel (1 Sam. 2:8-9), so Saul’s family retains control over a significant portion of people and land, so things really didn’t happen as this evil spirit said.

“and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me” (v19) – We focus on the time frame of tomorrow, and the swiftness of Saul’s demise makes us think it was fulfilled, but there is no actual hint that it happened so soon.  I think instead we should focus on the other part, where Saul and his sons would be. 

Saul thinks it is Samuel speaking, so he gets the idea that he and his sons will be with Samuel when they die.  Saul would reason this way--Samuel was righteous, so if Samuel says we will be with him, then that makes it seem like I haven't been too bad after all.  BUT… then that contradicts the previous message that the Lord is angry at Saul’s disobedience and is punishing him.  This evil spirit is giving a contradictory message and if Saul grasped any of these principles, then he would be even more confused and in doubt.   (Also, don’t forget that not all of Saul’s sons die.  Ish-bosheth remains alive.)

In absolute terms, this was an evil spirit pronouncing judgment on a mortal, a task undoubtedly beyond his authority and capability.  Can anyone have confidence that when an evil spirit gives judgment the judgment will be just?  No.

So to sum up, what is this fake Samuel, this evil spirit doing?  He’s deliberately misdiagnosing Saul’s position with the Lord, neglecting his worst sins while dwelling on the mistakes of the distant past, misinterpreting prophecy, and confusing him with contradictory statements about the fate of Israel and the fate of Saul’s soul. 

Saul’s whole intent was to find out what to do, but the effect of everything told him by the evil spirit is to destroy all hope that anything can be done about it.  Saul is told he is powerless to stop any of it.

But was he really hopeless and powerless? 

If we believe that Saul was powerless to change anything about his admittedly terrible state, then we too fall for the persuasions of this evil spirit.

In order to resist, we must believe the opposite—that there was something Saul could have done, that his situation, terrible as it seemed, was still not hopeless and there still remained to him the possibility of redemption through Christ. 

WE MUST BELIEVE THAT.

And if there was hope for Saul, then there is still hope for everyone else. 

That, I sense, is the ultimate uplifting message of this terrible chapter.  This is why we need this chapter in the scriptures.  Knowing how God works, we can discern the devil even when he comes as an angel of light or masquerades as one with authority.  We can detect him and reject his message that there is no hope, and we can lay hold on redemption with our faith in Christ and hope that all is not lost.

 

The big lesson from all the attempts on David’s life in 1 Samuel 18

1 Samuel 18 has so much happening in it that it is really compacted.  A cursory reading makes it seem like the chapter only records two of Saul's attempts on David's life, but there are actually at least five.

Attempt #1

We know Saul tried to spearDavid while David played his harp for Saul.

Attempt #2

After Saul's failed spearing attempt, v13-16 records:

13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.

15 Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

What this tells us is Saul put David over a thousand men in the army and David went out on military missions set by Saul.  Can we imagine Saul giving David easy stuff to do?  No.  He would give David the dirtiest, most dangerous missions in hopes of getting him killed.

Do you think David was blind to what was being done to him?  I doubt it.  I think he had a feeling he was being treated like cannon fodder.  He could have complained, but it doesn’t seem like he did, and instead he just did his best.  That uncomplaining obedience may be what the text means when it says he behaved himself wisely.

The result was that Saul’s attempt failed.  God kept David safe, and David kept his mouth shut, and he ended up more loved by the people than before, which was the opposite of what Saul wanted.  Perhaps Saul hoped David would turn out to be an ineffective leader and was trying to “promote to discredit.”  Instead, God used it to increase David’s talents and made good come of it.

Attempt #3

In Saul’s next attempt, he tries to praise and incentive-ize David into doing something exceptionally foolish to get him killed.

And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord’s battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. (v17)

Notice Saul gives this incentive—marriage to his eldest daughter—and his instructions are “only be thou valiant for me; and fight the Lord’s battles.”  That’s like saying, “Your only job is to be brave and fight.”

But… war takes more than just bravery and fighting, and in asking David to do that, Saul was attempting to discourage David from being smart about how he fought, hoping he would take stupid risks and get himself killed.  (As an aside, I’ve recently been reading a sci fi space opera series that has as a major plot point a space fleet’s tendency to suffer terrible losses because bravery was higher priority than discipline and strategy.  It gave this verse much greater significance than it would have had otherwise.)

How does David respond?  He refuses to take the bait and says that he and his family are nobodies and the last people to become connected by marriage to the king.  He’s okay with not being famous or connected to the king’s family.  His humility saves him.

Attempts #4 & 5

This is a two-parter. 

20 And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain….

25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. (v20-21, 25)

Saul intends Michal to be a snare to David and of course he also requires David to pay a dowry of 100 Philistine foreskins to marry her, and we know he hoped David would get killed trying to fulfill that requirement.

But how did Saul intend Michal to be a snare?  I had to think about this one and read more about Michal to figure this out.  I have a feeling that Saul meant it in the same sense that the Lord told the Israelites the Canaanites would be a snare to them and the same way the Moabite women were a snare in Numbers 25.  Michal may have been idolatrous.  I Samuel 19:13,16 tells that she put an image in David’s bed as a decoy so that David could escape Saul’s servants.  But what was an image doing in their house when there is that commandment in the Law of Moses to not have any graven images?  This was a full-sized statue and it was moveable.  David was a man after God’s heart, so it had to be Michal’s.  So Michal was idolatrous.

It seems Saul hoped that Michal’s idolatry would begin to pull David down once he was married to her.  Saul hoped to destroy David’s righteousness and favor with God in a manner strikingly similar to what Balaam taught the Moabites to do to the Israelites.

No, David!  Don’t marry her!  It’s a trap! 

Yet David does obtain the 100 Philistine foreskins with God’s protection.  (Note: v27 says he brought back 200 foreskins, but 2 Samuel 3:14 says it was 100.)  And he does marry Michal.   (At this point we should holding our heads and yelling “Oh noooooooo!”)

But… instead of Michal becoming a snare to David, the Lord uses Michal as a means of delivering David.  Remember when Saul sent his men to kill David, Michal warned him of his danger and helped him escape.  Then, she took the image she worshipped and put it in service as a decoy.    The very things that Saul meant to destroy David became the means by which the Lord saved him.  How’s that for showing the Lord’s great power to bring good out of evil?

It’s really a sad thing reading about all the ways Saul planned to try to get rid of David.  Yet, we get a great lesson from David.  As we see all the ways that the Lord brought good out of evil for him, we can gain greater faith that the Lord does the same thing for us today.   If we try to be as faithful to the Lord as David was (at this time in his life), the Lord can similarly take the bad things and turn them to our good.   To use an airplane analogy, if we keep our wings tilted up, the winds of opposition will lift us higher. 

King’s Saul’s first attempt to kill David

-->

9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

10 ¶And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit which was not of God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.

11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

12 ¶And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul. (1 Sam. 18:9-12, JST emphasized)

This is the beginning of Saul’s attempts to kill David.  This is kind of a disturbing story, but you’ll bear with me, we’ll see if we can learn some good things from it besides the obvious “don’t murder people.”

It is easy to think that Saul wasn’t really responsible for his actions here if he was under the influence of an evil spirit, but Saul knew what he was doing.  He was using his past history of disordered thinking as a cover for his attempt on David’s life, both to get David to come within range of his spear and for exoneration once the deed was done.  If any of us ever have troubles with mental illness, I hope we never try to use it as an excuse or cover to hurt someone deliberately. 

If a spirit which was not of God was upon Saul, what are we to think when it says he prophesied in the midst of the house?  What kind of prophesying is the evil spirit going to induce?  Probably not the good kind.  This reminds me of some verses from the D&C:

17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God….

23 And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. (D&C 50:17-18, 23)

I’ll bet if we could have heard what Saul said, we would be able to tell that he didn’t have the right spirit with him.

David was in a precarious position. Unless he was one of those amazing musicians who could play without looking at his instrument, he would be paying attention to getting his fingers in the right place, which would give him only the briefest of moments to look up and notice Saul aiming a spear at him.

It also says David avoided out of Saul’s presence twice.  It is hard to tell whether this means two separate incidents in which David got spears thrown at him or if there was just one incident and David preferred to avoid Saul at least one other time.  However, you have to give David credit for bravery (staying around) and restraint (not immediately avenging himself).  He had to rely on God. (After all, what human authority could he go to about what happened?  His trouble was with the king himself!)

I have to point out here another way Saul made a big mistake.  In the past, music helped Saul get free of the evil spirit tormenting him.  But this time, in choosing to try to kill David played, Saul resisted the calming influence in the music.  Do you think music is going to help Saul after this?  Probably not because he gave power to the evil spirit instead.  He’d have to repent and then make careful efforts to follow good impulses and resist bad ones.

From that we learn we can’t resist the Spirit of the Lord in any of the number of ways he tries to reach us without consequences.  We can’t resist good without putting ourselves in the power of the devil.  On the positive end, we can’t resist the devil without putting ourselves more in the Lord’s power, which is where we want to be anyway..  The influence we list to obey will have power over us.

I think it is interesting that after this incident the one who is afraid isn’t David.  It’s Saul.  Acting on his suspicions didn’t make Saul feel any more secure, but actually less.

Okay, so let’s tally up what we’ve learned from this:

·      Don’t use mental illness as a cover for deliberately hurting people.

·      Evil spirits don’t bring good prophesying.

·      When in danger from a direct superior, you have to rely on God.

·      There are consequences for resisting the Holy Ghost when it is manifest in good influences.

On Wiping out the Amalekites

One of the controversial parts of the Old Testament is the Lord’s commandment to wipe out the Amalekites so that their memory is erased.

The impetus for this command is after an occasion when a group of Canaanites called Amalekites attack the part of the Israelite camp with the sick, weary, and slow.  The strictness and severity of the command to wipe out the memory of the Amalekites is often questioned because of our distance from the offense they committed, when it was essentially an atrocity against noncombatants and civilians who could not defend themselves, about on par with attacking a hospital and slaughtering all inside.

One of the puzzling things is that even though various successive generations of Israelites destroy what they claim is “all of the Amalekites,” somehow enough Amalekites manage to survive for later generations to have to wipe them out too.

Saul is commanded to destroy the Amalekites, and he does, except for their king Agag, and Samuel has to finish the job.  Yet in the Book of Esther, we run into Haman, who is labeled an Agagite, which makes us thing Agag’s posterity still survived.

David returns home from the battlefront to find the Amalekites have attacked his hometown and carried away captive everyone, and he has to go rescue them.  Earlier than that, he goes on a raid against Amalekites and wipes them all out, presumably following that ancient command of Moses.

Even more interesting, occasionally editors of papers in Israel call for people to take up arms against the Amalekites around them who threaten their families.

How can Amalekites be wiped out generation after generation and still spring up again? 

Another interesting part of that story of Saul killing the Amalekites is that before he attacks, he finds Kenites living among the Amalekites, and he warns them to get out from among them so they aren’t destroyed too.  So the Kenites leave.  How did Saul know who was Kenite and who was Amalekite then? 

For that matter, how did any Israelite know an Amalekite from any other people?  Did they inquire after their genealogy and then attack?   Or was there a characteristic that instantly identified a group as Amalekite?  

Another question that troubles us is: Why did successive generations of Amalekites deserve to die?  If they deserved it, why weren’t their crimes recorded so that future generations could be sure their deaths were merited?   We place much importance on justice being done and in order to mentally exonerate the ancient Israelites of the charge of genocide, we feel we have to put the Amalekites on trial and hear the evidence that they were worthy of death.  But since there is very little evidence in the Bible, we conclude that no such evidence existed and that the executions were unfair.

I finally came up with a theory that explains why Amalekites continued to exist and continued to require destruction.  It also explains why their crimes were not recorded after the first inciting atrocity. 

My theory is that the classification of “Amalekite” may have begun as a particular culture, but didn’t have to stay that way.  Instead, it lived on as a behavior profile and the characteristic that identified someone as an Amalekite were the same actions that got the Amalekites under holy death sentence from God in the first place—attacking the weak, the sick, and those unable to defend themselves.   This is extremely predatory behavior.  Thus, anyone who did such a thing was to be considered an Amalekite and worthy of being wiped out. 

This is why Samuel commanded Saul to kill the Amalekites.  It meant that some group of people was being called Amalekites because of the atrocities they had just committed, and their acts required a response.   For Saul to leave Agag alive was to fail to punish the instigator of those atrocities.

This is why David went on raids against the Amalekites.  We are merely told of those raids and are meant to understand and take for granted that they happened because some group of people (labeled Amalekites) had committed atrocities against the weakest citizens who were unable to defend themselves.    This is also why David, when he comes back to find the city Ziklag looted and his women and children kidnapped, has to go chasing down more Amalekites to rescue his people.

The man who claims he killed King Saul is identified as an Amalekite.  Coincidence?   No.  If you read the account, you start to see that the man was predatory and taking advantage of the weak.

Haman, by plotting the death of the entire Jewish people in such a way that they were not allowed to defend themselves, is easily identified as a predatory type.  You don’t have to look at his genealogy to see that he fits the Amalekite profile.

So what do we learn from this?  In the commandment to wipe the Amalekites from the earth, we start to see not irrational cruelty and genocide as many often suppose, but an ancient measure to moderate war before there was ever thought of such a thing as the Geneva Convention.   It also bit both ways.  It was a command to put an end to any other people who commit such atrocities as the Amalekites had once committed, and implicitly a strict command to confine military aggression to those who can actually fight back (lest one become an Amalekite oneself).

Now..  you make the call.

Can Hitler be called an Amalekite?

How about suicide bombers?

What about terrorists?

Thoughts on Amalickiah’s Rise to Power Through Treachery, Alma 47-48

--> In Alma 47:1- 48:3, we see how Amalickiah rose to power among the Lamanites, and it is mostly through betraying people’s trust in him.

1)   He was trusted with the loyal part of the Lamanite king’s army.  He betrayed the army by making a secret agreement with Lehoni by which he tells Lehonti how to conquer the army.

2)   He betrays Lehonti’s trust by having him poisoned by degrees, even when Amalickiah was second in command.

3)   He betrays the Lamanite king by having him murdered.  This also betrays the part of his army that loves the Lamanite king.

4)   He betrays the trust of the part of the army that didn’t want to fight by having speakers of propaganda stir the Lamanites up to anger against the Nephites so that they want to go to war.

Clearly Amalickiah was an equal opportunity betrayer.  Being this guy’s friend was dangerous.

I used to have this idea that uniting his army with Lehonti’s automatically made the army united in purpose, but now I don’t think so.  I suspect that much of Amalickiah’s shenanigans after Lehoni’s death were efforts to keep the army together.  He had to play each side off the other and take turns giving each side what they wanted.  

I suspect that he promised Lehonti a united army would be more effective at resisting the Lamanite king’s command to fight.

He probably used the pro-war part of his army to administer poison to Lehonti, making them think this was all part of the plan to remove the anti-war resistance.

For the march back to the Lamanite capital, he probably assured the pro-war faction that they had succeeded, and then soothed the anti-war faction into compliance with the return by suggesting that assassinating the Lamanite king would be the perfect means of ensuring that they would not be subjected to go to war.

When the Lamanite king was assassinated (most likely by the anti-war faction of Amalickiah’s army), Amalickiah’s pretended anger and gave the pro-war faction opportunity to get revenge by allowing them to go after the supposed culprits, the king’s servants. 

The escape of the Lamanite king’s servants to Zarahemla was probably  a great excuse for Amalickiah to start war.  He could accuse the Nephites of planting assassins in the palace and make avenging the death of the king the reason why the Lamanites should go to war.  And the anti-war faction would have to go along with it or risk having their crime exposed.

Amalickiah is a very true type of Satan. Just like Amalickiah was not loyal to those who allied themselves with him, Satan does not support those who trust in wickedness.  A lot of people think they can break the commandments, keep the evil consequences under control, and have evil serve them, but Amalickiah’s treatment of Lehonti shows how Satan prefers to make us think we’re in control while his other forces take control and destroy us.

Another thing we learn about Satan from watching Amalickiah is that Satan’s forces are not united.  Satan uses this by playing each part off the other until he gets what he wants.  He gives side A chance to destroy side B for a while, then gives side B chance to destroy side A for a while, then vice versa.  Each side thinks they are the favored ones, but Satan’s only concern is to get more power and to destroy.

And notice, Amalickiah never does the dirty work himself; he only incites others to do it.  Likewise, Satan might argue he’s not personally responsible for the evil of the world; he doesn’t have a body, but he tries to influence people by giving them the bad ideas.  He tries to make those ideas look attractive and like they will give them what they want. 

Reading about Amalickiah, I always find myself wondering how Lehonti could ever have known Amalickiah was a bad guy.  How could he have protected himself?  John Bytheway has noted that Lehonti should never have come down from his mountain to talk to Amalickiah, yet something about that bothers me just a little bit.  What if it had been Captain Moroni with an army that was asking for a parley?  To me, to refuse to come down and even listen to a proposal before you even know what it is sounds close-minded. 

Eventually I realized that Amalickiah tipped his hand when he offered to betray his own army to Lehonti.   While this sounded like a very attractive offer to Lehonti, it should have been a big red flag that Amalickiah was not a man to be trusted.  A man who betrays his own people as a goodwill gesture to make friends with someone will think nothing of eventually betraying the new friend when advantage is to be gained elsewhere.